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9/11IAN URQUHART SARAWAK CINEREEL 02 of 23
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- Publication date
- 1955
- Usage
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
- Topics
- Cinereel, Silent Standard 8mm, Sarawak, Malaysia, Penan, Kenyah
- Rights
- Unless stated otherwise all rights for commercial use is retained by the Urquhart family (Alexa Young, Neil Urquhart and Murdo Urquhart).
- Item Size
- 1.8G
Filmed on Silent Standard 8mm film by former British civil service officer, Ian Urquhart in Baram District, 4th Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, 1954-1965. Restored and digitised at 24fps. Ian's annotations have been transcribed in their original form. Known acronyms are described. See below for more information about Ian Urquhart.
Reel 02 Annotations
1955 snippets of Nomadic Penans in the Silat River, an ulu Baram tributary. A glimpse of Kenyah spirit figures at Long Moh and, in 1956, an aerial view in the 3rd Division of the area where the Belaga River runs into the Baloi (Rejang).
Going up the Silat River. Kayans. Good picture of typical Nomadic Penans (smoking) at Long Sengayang beside hut built for trading meetings.
Dresser dishing out medicines.
Note Penan girl holding baby in 'avat' in front of her. Penans and our hut.
Continuing upriver in low water SarawakNative Officer Wan Hashim with black belt. Wan Hashim on rock.
A fisherman throws a net, bends down and extracts a fish and puts it in his pants, then feels under the net for more fish.
Tar, my boy [assistant] baling.
At Long Pelutan with its semi-permanent hut for trade meetings called Long Peluan Hotel [name unreadable]. Kenyahs and Penans trading.
Weighing damar supervised by Govt. officers.
Switch to black and white film showing beside the Peluan brook, Penan women preparing hill sago. The rasped sago is put in closely woven baskets on a platform. The women place water from the stream in the basket and tread it. The pith remains in the basket while the water and sago flour filter through the basket to a wooden container below. As the water overflows it leaves the flour accumulating on the bottom of the container.
Continuing up the Baram with views of 7 peaks (Bukit Batu Tujoh).
Going up the Kau Rapids.
Views of traditional pagan Kenyah spirit figures standing amongst various croton-like plants of spiritual importance. Further upriver at Long Selaan, graves beside the river. Going down the river.
In late 1956 aerial view of the junction of the Belaga River and the Baloi (Rejang) with the white painted Fort and small bazaar and the airstrip under construction opposite Penghulu Puso's longhouse and farming land, some burnt and ready for planting.
Views of the Pasang Rapids in the Belaga and the Baloi valleys.
The Metjawa River and Long Bangan longhouse.
Good picture of an Orang Ulu longhouse (Rh. Lhasa) with its rice barns on the left.
Notes
Dresser dishing out medicines.
Note Penan girl holding baby in 'avat' in front of her. Penans and our hut.
Continuing upriver in low water SarawakNative Officer Wan Hashim with black belt. Wan Hashim on rock.
A fisherman throws a net, bends down and extracts a fish and puts it in his pants, then feels under the net for more fish.
Tar, my boy [assistant] baling.
At Long Pelutan with its semi-permanent hut for trade meetings called Long Peluan Hotel [name unreadable]. Kenyahs and Penans trading.
Weighing damar supervised by Govt. officers.
Switch to black and white film showing beside the Peluan brook, Penan women preparing hill sago. The rasped sago is put in closely woven baskets on a platform. The women place water from the stream in the basket and tread it. The pith remains in the basket while the water and sago flour filter through the basket to a wooden container below. As the water overflows it leaves the flour accumulating on the bottom of the container.
Continuing up the Baram with views of 7 peaks (Bukit Batu Tujoh).
Going up the Kau Rapids.
Views of traditional pagan Kenyah spirit figures standing amongst various croton-like plants of spiritual importance. Further upriver at Long Selaan, graves beside the river. Going down the river.
In late 1956 aerial view of the junction of the Belaga River and the Baloi (Rejang) with the white painted Fort and small bazaar and the airstrip under construction opposite Penghulu Puso's longhouse and farming land, some burnt and ready for planting.
Views of the Pasang Rapids in the Belaga and the Baloi valleys.
The Metjawa River and Long Bangan longhouse.
Good picture of an Orang Ulu longhouse (Rh. Lhasa) with its rice barns on the left.
Notes
- Damar is the resin extracted from different tree species usually used for varnishing, an item used by many upriver communities to sell and barter-trade.
- Orang Ulu terms do not use Rh. for their longhouse communities. Rh. usually stands for Rumah referring to an Iban longhouse belonging to a chief. So, when it says Rh. Pang, it means the longhouse is headed by the headman named Pang. In this case, "Rh. Lhasa" most likely refers to Uma Lasah, which is a Kejaman longhouse just above Belaga town along the Balui River. There are several Kejaman longhouses along this river, and they usually refer to this one as Uma Kejaman Lasah.
About Ian Urquhart
Ian Urquhart was a decorated British soldier, posted to Sarawak, where he served from 1947 to 1965. A brilliant linguist with an abiding interest in learning about other people and their cultures, he was a natural fit to be a civil service officer.
In addition to his administrative duties, he studied the indigenous communities he encountered focusing on their varied languages. From 1951 to 1959, Ian published several articles published by the Sarawak Museum Journal.
It was during this period that he conducted many trips into the jungles of Sarawak, in particular the Kelabit highlands and the Ulu Baram. From 1957 his wife Bunty accompanied him and contributed to some of the filming.
It was these trips that he documented on Silent Standard/Regular 8mm colour and b/w cinefilm leaving his family and the people of Sarawak with not only a detailed account of his life there, he annotated all 30 reels, 23 of which are available in this collection.
Ian Urquhart was a decorated British soldier, posted to Sarawak, where he served from 1947 to 1965. A brilliant linguist with an abiding interest in learning about other people and their cultures, he was a natural fit to be a civil service officer.
In addition to his administrative duties, he studied the indigenous communities he encountered focusing on their varied languages. From 1951 to 1959, Ian published several articles published by the Sarawak Museum Journal.
It was during this period that he conducted many trips into the jungles of Sarawak, in particular the Kelabit highlands and the Ulu Baram. From 1957 his wife Bunty accompanied him and contributed to some of the filming.
It was these trips that he documented on Silent Standard/Regular 8mm colour and b/w cinefilm leaving his family and the people of Sarawak with not only a detailed account of his life there, he annotated all 30 reels, 23 of which are available in this collection.
Credits
Camera - Ian Urquhart
Restoration and digitization - R3store, London
Archive research and production - Andrew Garton in collaboration with Alexa Young, Neil Urquhart and Murdo Urquhart
